All projects

Organisation and performance of an international ringtest for the validation of the enchytraeid reproduction test

An enchytraeid reproduction test ring test was performed in line with OECD requirements. Twenty-nine institutions (mainly universities and contract research laboratories) from 15 countries from Europe and North America participated in this ring test. The co-ordinating laboratory centrally distributed the test chemicals, guidance papers and test organisms to all participants. In addition, several training courses […]

application of biosolids to land

Ecological impacts of land application of biosolids on soil-dwelling organisms

In a long-term experiment run by Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, the fate of pharmaceuticals and other substances contained in biosolids was followed after farm-scale application to agricultural land on an experimental field site in Ottawa. In the context of this experiment, ECT followed the development of nematode and enchytraeid communities over several years after the […]

Hardly soluble active ingredients of cosmetics – ecotoxicology and substitution

The aim of this project was to develop tools and to experimentally verify proposed assessment schemes such as the ‘poorly soluble approach‘ in order to enable a better assessment of highly lipophilic substances. In the context of a PhD project, selected highly lipophilic compounds present in personal care products (e.g. cosmetics) were investigated. ECT played […]

Selection of test organisms for the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants: applying and testing a new selection procedure

Since almost two decades now, chemical stressors such as pesticides are subjected to a number of standardised ecotoxicity tests for regulatory approval prior to their release to the environment. Since the advent of the technology, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in general, and genetically modified plants (GMPs) in particular have been a contentious issue  and, very […]

Development of a classification and assessment concept based on biodiversity of water and soil organisms regarding the effects of climate change and anthropogenic stressors

In July 2008, a new interdisciplinary research centre was founded in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) within the framework of the LOEWE Programme, a State Government of Hesse initiative for the development of scientific and economic excellence. The mission of the new centre (BiK-F) is to carry out internationally outstanding research on the interactions of organismic […]